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Monday, June 13, 2016

WORLD WAR Z: A REPORT FROM THE FRONTLINES.

ZIKA AND THE RIO 2016 OLYMPICS:

A Global Marathon against a microbe

Editor’s note:The
following essay was first published June 9, 2016 in New America Weekly, an
online publication of New America, an independent think tank and non-profit
civic enterprise based in Washington DC.New America shares its content with the public sector.www.www.newamerica.org

GUEST BLOG / By Susan Blumenthal and Ladan Fakory.

With as many as 500,000 spectators and more
than 10,500 athletes expected to attend the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio
de Janeiro this summer, the world is racing to contain the mysterious,
mosquito-borne Zika virus that has infected more than 120,000 people in Brazil since
2015.

Several athletes and journalists have
already said they will not attend this year’s games. It’s no wonder why: The
disease causes microcephaly, a rare birth defect – never before associated with
a viral infection –that causes babies of some pregnant women, infected with the
virus, to be born with underdeveloped heads and brains. More than 1,300 cases
of confirmed microcephaly in infants born to mothers who were infected with
Zika during pregnancy have been reported in Brazil.

Another 3,300 cases are still being
investigated. The likelihood of a woman who was infected with the Zika virus
during pregnancy giving birth to a baby with microcephaly is estimated to be as
high as 13 percent. Additionally, physicians are concerned that infants might
experience other neurological damage and developmental problems that could
affect their vision, hearing, cognition, and behavior.

Adults have experienced an autoimmune
disease associated with the virus called Guillain-Barré syndrome that can
result in paralysis. To date, several people infected with Zika have died.

With no vaccine or treatment, or indeed much knowledge about who
is most at risk for complications of the disease, currently available about
Zika,150 bioethicists, scientists,
physicians, and public health professionals wrote a letter to the World Health
Organization (WHO) urging that the Olympic Games be postponed or relocated.

They worry that some athletes and
spectators will become infected while in Rio and then carry the virus back to
their home countries, further spreading the disease worldwide. This would be of
particular concern for countries where the virus is not endemic and for
developing nations that do not have adequate health infrastructure to prevent
the disease’s spread and where mosquito vectors exist for transmission.

They argue that major sporting events have
been moved before; for example, the Women’s World Soccer Cup in 2002 was
relocated from China over concerns about the swine flu. In their letter to the
WHO, these experts believe that just a few infected travelers in several
countries or continents could result in a “full blown global health disaster.”

Other scientists suggest that the number of
Zika cases will decline during the winter months in Brazil when the Olympics
are scheduled to occur. However, recent seasonal patterns for diseases, like
dengue, carried by the same Aedes aegypti mosquito, suggest that while the Zika
outbreak might well ebb during the summer, it will most likely not disappear
entirely.

Furthermore, given the effects of climate
change, some mosquitos are thriving in winter months that are warmer than in
previous years. Another concern expressed by some experts is that the Asian
strain of Zika (believed to be introduced to Brazil in 2013 and subsequently to
other South and Central American countries) appears to have higher rates of
serious complications, including microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome, as
compared to the African strain. More research is needed on these observations,
and on other aspects of the disease.

But what we do know is this: Tens of
thousands of tourists packed into outdoor stadiums and event venues at the
Olympics this summer is worrisome to athletes and spectators when there is a
mosquito-borne disease at large.

To address these concerns, the WHO and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued statements to
reassure the public that changing or cancelling the location of the 2016
Olympics would not significantly alter the international spread of the disease.
These organizations note that people travel to and from Brazil every month for
many reasons, and that, since 2007, mosquito-borne transmission of Zika has
been reported in more than 60 countries and territories worldwide and in 40
countries in the Americas alone.

Ten countries have reported
person-to-person transmission of the virus. According to Dr. Tom Frieden,
Director of the CDC, “The Olympics would represent less than 0.25 percent of
all travel to Zika affected areas.”He
states, “So even if the Olympics were called off, we’d still be left with 99.75
percent of the risk of Zika continuing to spread.” Next week, the WHO plans to
convene a high level meeting of experts to discuss what is known about Zika
risks at the Olympics and to determine whether any travel recommendations
should be updated or revised.

While the WHO and CDC statements provide
general reassurance that the Rio Olympic games this summer do not pose an
increased risk of Zika transmission given the sheer volume of travel that
already occurs to and from Brazil, the actual risk of further Zika spread as a
result of the Games is difficult to accurately predict.

To address this issue, several
epidemiologists have developed a mathematical model based on estimating how
many mosquitos will be in Rio during the Games to determine the chance that
spectators and athletes could be infected during this three-week period.

Their preliminary model suggests a 1 in 31,000 chance of
contracting Zika during the Olympics in Rio – that means 16 cases– as compared
to a 1 in 11 million chance of dying in a plane crash or a 1 in 9,100 chance of
being killed in a car accident in the United States this year but it should be
noted that other experts believe there are limitations to this statistical
approach.

However, according to the European Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, attendees are much more likely to
experience food poisoning during the Olympics in Brazil than to become infected
with Zika.

But it should be remembered that this
public health issue is not just about the number of cases, but also about
whether infected people travelling back to their countries might trigger a new
outbreak somewhere in the world.

However, according to the mathematical
model, keeping the Games in Rio would not change the course of the epidemic
globally. Similarly, a San Paulo-based research group confirms this prediction,
estimating that attendance at the Rio Olympics would result in a maximum of 15
Zika infections among the visitors.

Given the public’s fears about contracting
Zika at the Games, Rio’s Olympic organizers convened a briefing on June 7th,
with the city’s chief medical expert emphasizing this prediction --that Zika is
expected to affect only an estimated 1.8 people per 1 million tourists –15
people--during the three weeks of the Olympic competition.

Nonetheless, some experts argue that core
principles that animate the Olympic Games provide a counter argument to
convening the competitions in Rio this summer under these circumstances. An
article published in the Harvard Public Health Review quotes the International
Olympic Committee statement: “Olympism seeks to create … social responsibility
and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.”

If any Olympic athletes or spectators
attending the 2016 games in Rio become infected with the virus and return to
their respective countries and then transmit the disease to others, this would
represent a violation of the Games’ principles of social responsibility, which
if interpreted broadly, would include not spreading an infectious disease.

What is clear is that the ongoing spread ad
impact of the Zika virus has been yet another wake-up call after the Ebola
outbreak last year that infectious diseases pose significant threats to human
health and international security.

On February 1, 2016, WHO declared that the Zika outbreak was a
Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Experts estimate that 2.17 billion people
are living in tropical and sub-tropical regions, where Zika-carrying mosquitos
can thrive. According to the WHO, as many as 4 million Zika cases are predicted
in the Western hemisphere alone by the end of 2016. There is increasing concern
that the disease could affect people living in the United States during the
upcoming summer season.

As of June 1, 2016, there have been 618
Zika cases reported in 46 U.S. states (none of which have been locally
transmitted), and 1,114 cases reported in 3 U.S. territories, with 1,075 cases
in Puerto Rico alone. The virus is a particular threat to Puerto Rico, where local
transmission is occurring. It has been estimated that as many as 25% of people
residing there may become infected with the Zika virus.

If local transmission of the virus occurs
in North America, the Aedes aegypti mosquito would likely be the primary vector
in urban areas and southern U.S. states along the Gulf Coast, whereas the Aedes
albopictus mosquito could play a role in transmission due to its distribution
as far as New England and the lower Great Lakes.

The global transportation of cargo and travel
by people are largely responsible for introducing these mosquito vectors to
other habitats and continents. In addition, environmental changes including
urbanization, dam construction, deforestation, and rising temperatures linked
to climate change have increased the number of locations around the world in
which these mosquitos can thrive.

The Zika pandemic underscores the
importance of prevention and public health preparedness in mitigating the
spread of disease and promoting global health. Since 1976, as many as three new
infectious diseases have emerged each year: HIV/AIDS, SARS, H1N1, Ebola, MERS,
and West Nile encephalitis are just some of the most serious and headline
grabbing ones. As of 2014, more than 346 infectious diseases were linked to 16%
of all human deaths worldwide..

Given the urgency of Zika as a public
health threat, the Obama Administration requested $1.8 billion to fight the
disease. Congress is currently debating the level of funding required. In the
meantime, on April 6, 2016, the Obama Administration redirected $589 million in
unspent funding to combat Ebola to fight the Zika epidemic while waiting for
Congress to act.

By investing in research (which Congress
has still not done at an adequate level) toward the discovery of a vaccine and
antiviral treatments, human suffering and the long-term costs of caring for
children with microcephaly, and people with Guillain-Barré syndrome and other
health damaging complications of the virus can be averted. Additionally, the
results of increased knowledge about the virus should pay dual dividends to
help fight other infectious diseases as well.

We can go debate where the Olympics should
be held, but Zika is a global problem regardless of where athletes go for gold
this summer, one we need more resources and research to solve.On May 6, 2016, UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon announced the establishment of a targeted “UN Zika Response
Multi-Partner Trust Fund,” which will provide a rapid, flexible, and
accountable platform to support a coordinated response to support the global
Zika Strategic Response Framework and Joint Operations Plan in consultation
with UN agencies, partners, and international public health experts.

Donors will contribute to a central “fund”
and an Advisory Committee will direct monies to priority activities and
programs. This is an important step forward, but this Zika Fund should be
expanded and established as a “Global Health Security Fund,” a permanent entity
to support the international response to all emerging infectious disease
threats now and in the future (in the interest of full disclosure, we have
previously proposed such a group).

On May 20, the World Bank launched an
innovative $500 million insurance fund to address some of this need. The new
Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) will help in the fight against
pandemics in poor countries. In the event of an outbreak, the facility will
rapidly release monies to an affected nation and qualified global first
responder organizations. The fund creates the first insurance market for
pandemic risk.

Last month, at the G-7 meeting in Tokyo,
pandemic planning was a prominent issue with the group’s endorsement of the
Global Health Security Agenda. The G-7 has reached out to more than 70
countries to assist them in implementation of the WHO International Health
Regulations.

However, only about one-third of nations
globally have the resources and public health infrastructure to respond
effectively to public health emergencies like Zika creating vulnerabilities
worldwide. That is why pandemic planning and response is essential with
coordination of efforts, robust early detection methods, disease surveillance,
and reporting systems, as well as investments in new vaccines, treatments, and
prevention strategies. Community education and mobilization is critical, as
well as creating a Pandemic Response Corps of trained health professionals, lab
technicians, and other health providers, who can be rapidly mobilized when an
outbreak occurs anywhere in the world.

Focusing global attention on where the
Olympics should be run this summer while failing to commit the necessary time,
money, and action to combat the Zika virus is not a winning strategy.

Throughout history, infectious diseases
have killed more people than wars, making them powerful international enemies
and decisive shapers of history. They remain clear and present dangers to human
health, economic development, and national security in an interconnected 21st
century world, and we must remain vigilant against them.

That is why a medical marathon is needed,
making significant investments now to strengthen the scientific knowledge base,
developing new global health technologies including rapid testing methods that
can be deployed in combination with proven public health practices, as well as
strengthening health systems with a coordinated national and international
response.

These efforts will enhance our ability to
fight Zika and other emerging infectious disease threats more swiftly and
effectively, moving from peril to progress in the years ahead. Intensifying
concern about the spread of the Zika virus worldwide underscores that microbes
are ticking time bombs against the health of humanity and failure to fight them
is not an option.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Susan Blumenthal

Senior Fellow in Health Policy

Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D.,
M.P.A. (ret,) is a senior fellow with the Health Policy Program at New America.

For more than two decades, Dr. Blumenthal
provided distinguished service as a leading federal government medical expert,
as an officer in the U.S. Public Health Service, and as a spokesperson in the
administrations of four U.S. Presidents. She served as assistant surgeon
general of the United States, the first-ever deputy assistant secretary for women's
health, and was senior global and e-health advisor in the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS). Dr. Blumenthal was also a White House health
advisor, the medical advisor to the Secretary, USDA, chief of the Behavioral
Medicine and Basic Prevention Research Branch at the National Institute of
Mental Health, and chair of the Health and Behavior Coordinating Committee at
the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Blumenthal currently serves as public
health editor of The Huffington Post, as senior policy and medical ddvisor at
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research and is the director of an initiative on
strengthening nutrition in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
to reduce food insecurity and obesity in America. She is also a clinical
professor at Georgetown and Tufts Schools of Medicine and chair of the Global
Health Program at the Meridian International Center.

The hallmark of Dr. Blumenthal’s work
throughout her career has been her visionary leadership in bringing understudied
health issues to increased public and scientific attention and developing
multi-sector initiatives and “health in all policies” solutions to complex
health challenges. Dr. Blumenthal has been a major force in advancing global
and women’s health as well as a national leader in the prevention of chronic
disease, suicide, and violence. She has also been involved in addressing
emerging health threats including obesity, bioterrorism and pandemic flu. Dr.
Blumenthal has been at the frontline in health care reform efforts in the
United States as a member of a governmental task force and as co-chair and
executive director of the Commission on New Directions in U.S. Federal
Leadership on Health at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress
(CSPC) where she directed its Health and Medicine Program.

Dr. Blumenthal was a pioneer in exposing
the inequities in women’s health and the lack of attention to gender
differences in disease. In recognition of her leadership, she was appointed and
served as the country’s first deputy assistant secretary for Women’s Health
where she coordinated a $4 billion dollar budget across the agencies of HHS,
developing many novel cross cutting initiatives that moved women’s health and
the career development of women in medicine and science to the forefront of our
country’s health care agenda and worked with other countries to do the same.
She founded the National Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health program and
the National Women’s Health Information Center as well as appointed regional
women’s health coordinators to build infrastructure at the state level. She
also has established and directed several international initiatives (including
in the Middle East) using health diplomacy as a peace-building tool.

Additionally, Dr. Blumenthal was among the
first in the government to apply information technology and social media to
improve health, establishing several award-winning websites (the first in the
government for health and global health) and an innovative initiative, “From
Missiles to Mammograms” that transferred imaging technology from space
exploration and military purposes to improve the early detection of breast
cancer. Dr. Blumenthal has published many scientific articles, edited books
including Suicide over the Life Cycle, served as the host and medical director
of a television series on health, and chaired numerous national and
international committees and conferences. Named by the Medical Herald and the
National Library of Medicine as one of the most influential women in medicine
and by the New York Times as one of the top doctors in the women's health
field, Rear Admiral Blumenthal is the recipient of numerous awards, medals and
honorary doctorates for her pioneering leadership and significant contributions
to improving health. She was named the 2009 Health Leader of the Year by the
Commissioned Officers Association, its highest honor, and as a Rock Star of
Science by the Geoffrey Beene Foundation.

Ladan Fakory
is a fellow with the health policy group at New America, where she provides
research and analyses on domestic and global health issues.

She has 11 years of policy
design and project management experience across U.S. Department of State, U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID), and Walter Reed Army Institute of
Research (WRAIR). She has focused on a full spectrum of global health issues,
including HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, and the U.S. Global Health
Initiative. Her passion lies at the intersection of development and diplomacy.
In 2013, she led USAID’s flagship event at the UN General Assembly, “Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) Countdown: Girls and Women Transforming Societies,”
which highlighted how the empowerment of women and girls has accelerated
progress towards the MDGs. In 2012, she was the U.S. government health lead for
the G-8 and authored the health chapter for the 2012 G-8 Camp David
Accountability Report.

Ms. Fakory earned a B.A. in
Biopsychology at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and a Master’s
in Public Administration (M.P.A.) from the Harvard Kennedy School. She is
fluent in Persian (Farsi) and conversant in French.